Donna Greenberg Music

Toronto Fringe Festival presents…

Date

July 5, 2013

Time

12:00 am

Location

401 Richmond St. W., Toronto

Venue

Musideum

Music, dance and the spoken word come together in celebrated singer/songwriter Donna Greenberg’s BURNT…and toasted!, a one-woman show about love…and love gone wrong. Co-created by musician and lyricist Jordan Klapman, BURNT…and toasted! is playing July 5-13, 2013 at the Tarragon Extra Space, as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Inspired by true-life events, BURNT…and toasted! chronicles one woman’s tale of love, loss and her rise from the ashes.
Tickets are available beginning June 17 via www.fringetoronto.com, by telephone at 416-966-1062 (ext.1), or at the door.
Once burnt, where do you find the fire and passion to rediscover self-worth? BURNT…and toasted! is a one woman musical show based on the life of performer Donna Greenberg. Through her journey, Donna discovers a courage that she never knew she possessed, and with it rises to rebuild a life filled with dreams she had never dared to dream before, where success is the sweetest revenge. BURNT…and toasted! is the story of a joyous mid-life rebirth.
A taste of the media praise for Donna Greenberg:
“I love the way her voice caresses a lyric…The magic of Greenberg’s voice is that it feels like she’s singing to you and only you. There’s an intimacy to these songs that is rare in this day and age – something precious to be savored and enjoyed…” ~ GONZO MAGAZINE
“Canadian recording artist Donna Greenberg has one hell of a sexy voice” ~ Mississauga News
BURNT…and toasted! features multi-talented recording artist Donna Greenberg (Song In The Wind, 2012; Mav’rik, 2010), and Musical Director Jordan Klapman (The Yiddish Swingtet’s SHUL DAYS, 2007; 100 Years of Waller, 2004) on keys. Valary Cook (How to Hunt a Woolly Mammoth, Village Playhouse; Into the Woods, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, TDSB; New Ideas Festival) directs BURNT…and toasted!

Singer/songwriter Donna Greenberg is a musical force to be reckoned with. Her third CD, Song In The Wind, featuring pianist/producer Jordan Klapman and Canada’s finest musicians soared to new heights; Donna has proven herself as A DIVA FOR ALL!
Hot on the heels of her international critically acclaimed CD, Mav’rik, Donna, who is also a well-respected dancer and choreographer is taking her talents to The Toronto Fringe Festival 2013 stage in BURNT…and toasted! This is the first original theatrical production from this most talented triple threat.
Music, dance and words come together in this, her one-woman theatrical about love and love gone wrong. BURNT…and toasted! journeys through Donna’s life…a coming out of the ashes with fire and passion to rediscover self-worth. Donna brings to her performance a riveting story that resonates to the core!
Donna’s been entertaining as long as she can remember, but didn’t begin recording her music until later in life. “I felt compelled to realize my dream of becoming a recording artist, to prove that it is never too late when one is impassioned,” states the singer/songwriter. “I wanted to share the insights of my experience and my love of music, dance, lyrics and languages through my recordings.”
She offers her listeners maturity and depth with lyrics that speak to all. The songs on the album are passionate, soulful, romantic…reflecting a life filled with love, joy and sorrow. Donna continues to jump genres incorporating jazz, Latin and ballads to both her solo renderings and romantic duets. Her lyrics are multilingual with texts in Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian and English.
The singer/songwriter has enjoyed radio airplay across North America and Europe and is a sought after concert performer. She has been featured in publications including Cashbox Canada, Hot Toronto, Canadian Jewish News and New Canadian Music, to name a very few.
Donna’s is known as a singers’ singer and has garnered fans all over the world, including blues and gospel great, Otis Clay. Her original Spanish tunes were featured in two commercial videos for Quebec-based retailer, Olive&Olives. Her television appearances have included a feature on CTS Television, Rogers Television Mississauga and a very entertaining interview and performance on The Being Frank Show Holiday Special seen nationally. See for yourself at: http://youtu.be/GI08u5BaBIs.

Jordan Klapman
Musical Director/Accompanist

Jordan Klapman is a jazz pianist, bandleader, music director, and popular music lecturer. He plays jazz festivals, clubs, concert halls, and theatres, and appeared at Roy Thomson Hall for numerous performances with Seniors’ Jubilee, the largest talent showcase in North America. He’s also appeared on CBC radio and television, and on JazzFM radio as a radio show co-host with the late Jeff Healey.
Mr. Klapman currently performs several popular music lecture series at synagogues, cultural centres and private residences throughout Ontario and beyond, including: The History of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway’s Greatest Jewish Composers, Klezmer 101, and The Story of The Brill Building, and The History of Jewish Jazz.
Jordan leads several groups of his own including 100 Years Of Waller, The SHINE Quintet, The JK Jazz Band, and Klapman’s Klezmer Band. He is music director of A Tribute to Ella and Louis, Jump/Swing/Boogie: A Tribute to Roy Eldridge & Anita O’Day, and Great Songs of the ‘60s, and a founding member of The Yiddish Swingtet.
In 2004 Mr. Klapman released 100 Years Of Waller, an album dedicated to Fats Waller’s greatest hits. In 2007 he produced SHINE featuring classic jazz instrumentals and clarinetist Mick Lewis of the Climax Jazz Band. A second 2007 CD release, The Yiddish Swingtet’s SHUL DAYS, combines two of Jordan’s favourite music genres, traditional klezmer and classic swing. Selections from these CDs have been broadcast nationally on CBC and Sirius Radio. In 2010 Jordan arranged and produced Mav’rik, an album of a dozen original songs in four languages with songwriter Donna Greenberg, and Song In The Wind, a second album of original songs with Ms. Greenberg released in 2012.

Valary Cook
Director

Valary Cook taught English and Dramatic Arts for the TDSB for many moons, during whch time she directed musicals (Into the Woods, Peter Pan, Godspell, Camelot, The Baker’s Wife), plays (Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Crucible, You Can’t Take It With You), anthologies and Sears Drama festival winning productions. In addition to Drama specialist qualifications, she has taken director training with teachers such as Richard Greenblatt and Jim Warren. She has directed several pieces for the New Ideas Festival at the Alumnae Theatre and, in 2011, How to Hunt a Woolly Mammoth for the Sweets and Treats Festival at the Village Playhouse. “Valary is delighted to have a chance to work with a tremendous and open-hearted musical talent.”

Kathryn Kates is the CEO of Kathryn Kates Public Relations. She’s a two-time Royal Bank of Canada Women Entrepreneur nominee and Canadian Business Journal’s Spotlight Entrepreneur of June 2011. Also in 2011, she was featured in Cashbox Canada. Kathryn knows the arts, she is an internationally known entertainment journalist and former dancer.

John Patric Price
Graphic Designer

John Patric Price – designer. John, or ‘Jeep’ as he is known, is head honcho at JPPrice Imaging. He spent the first 30 years of his professional life in the performing arts field and now spends much of his time behind his camera and in front of his computer translating images into messages. A former dancer, an amateur musician and a rambling philosopher, Jeep keeps his eyes wide open for the next challenge.

“Greenberg’s voice seems to have been born to jazz. She sells all songs via crystal clear vocals.”
~ Calvin Daniels, Yorkton This Week Newspaper, Yorkton, SK

“Canadian recording artist Donna Greenberg has one hell of a sexy voice. Her words are deliberate, spoken in a whiskey coated way that’s as sweet and slow as thick honey being poured from a jar. And when this lady sings the blues and the soulful sounds of jazz, the same honey-rich goodness flows, coming from a place that’s as deep and complex as the artist. It’s no wonder she chose jazz, and the romance of the standards as her favourite music styles.”
~ Maureen Scott, MISSISSAUGA NEWS, Mississauga, Ontario

“I love the way her voice caresses a lyric…The magic of Greenberg’s voice is that it feels like she’s singing to you and only you. There’s an intimacy to these songs that is rare in this day and age- something precious to be savored and enjoyed…”
~ John Kereiff, GONZO MAGAZINE, Lloydminster, Alberta

“Greenberg’s clear voice enhances the songs with a vocal range and talent that is undeniable. Greenberg is a modern Frank Sinatra with a glamorized twist.”
~ Amelia Naismith, PONOKA NEWS, Ponoka, Alberta

“Passion for her music, passion for life, passion for mankind. It is no wonder her new CD is such a wonderful production of all that passion. Not to mention her hauntingly beautiful vocals. The unique production of this CD is the fact that this chanteuse sings in Portuguese, Italian and French.”
~ Sandy Graham, CASHBOX CANADA